Katie Randall scored 11 of her game-high 15 points in the second half Tuesday night at the Sports Pavlion, leading SBCC to a 77-61 women’s basketball victory over Santa Monica.
SBCC (6-3) outrebounded the Corsairs 59-34 while improving to 6-3. The Vaqueros made 19 steals, leading to numerous easy layups. Santa Barbara led by 13 late in the first half and 34-23 at halftime.
Santa Monica got within two, 42-40, with 14 minutes to play. The Vaqueros put the game away with a 20-4 run that boosted the margin to 67-46 on a breakaway layup by Francesca DeAngelis.
“We got a little nervous that we might have another upset (when they cut it to two),” said Randall, who also had six rebounds. “The freshmen took that pressure and made it a positive thing. We turned our defense up a notch.”
Center Nikki Graham had 14 points and 10 rebounds while Lauren Wells tallied a season-high 12 with four steals. Josey Piercey grabbed 11 boards with six points and three assists.
“Everybody played with heart,” said Piercey. “You don’t have to be good at basketball to play defense. All you have to do is work hard.”
Coach Sandrine Krul said defense made the difference.
“We’ve been working hard on our defense and giving them a couple of days off really helped rejuvenate them,” said Krul. “No one missed an assignment tonight, no matter who we put in. And Santa Monica is really athletic.”
Janelle Wong, a freshman from Dos Pueblos, will be out at least another week with a rotator cuff injury.
SBCC returns to action on Thursday in the opening round of the 16-team Sequoias Tournament. The Vaqueros will play Reedley at 8 p.m.
